Peer counseling for perinatal depression in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.

Perinatal depression is associated with adverse maternal, newborn and child health outcomes. Treatment gaps and sociocultural factors contribute to its disproportionate burden in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Task-sharing approaches, such as peer counseling, have been developed to improve access to mental health services.

Allostatic Load as a Mediator and Perceived Chronic Stress as a Moderator in the Association between Maternal Mental Health and Preterm Birth: A Prospective Cohort Study of Pregnant Women in Pakistan.

Introduction: The complex biopsychosocial pathways linking maternal mental health with preterm birth (PTB) are not well understood. This study aimed to explore allostatic load (AL) as a mediator and perceived chronic stress as a moderator in the pathway linking maternal mental health and PTB.

Methods: A cohort study of pregnant women (n = 1,567) recruited at clinic visits within 10-19 weeks of gestation was assessed for maternal mental health (i.

Proposed Physiological Mechanisms Underlying the Association between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Mental Health Conditions: A Narrative Review.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; e.g., physical abuse) can impact lifelong mental health both directly and intergenerationally, with effects transmitted from the parent to the child.

Impacts of COVID-19 on mothers' and newborns' health outcomes in regional Canada: A cross-sectional analysis.

Background: COVID-19 infection and pandemic-related stressors (e.g., socioeconomic challenges, isolation) resulted in significant concerns for the health of mothers and their newborns during the perinatal period.

Validity, Reliability, Accessibility, and Applicability of Young Children's Developmental Screening and Assessment Tools across Different Demographics: A Realist Review.

Valid and reliable developmental screening and assessment tools allow professionals to identify disabilities/delays in children, enabling timely intervention to limit adverse lifelong impacts on health. However, differences in child development related to culture, genetics, and perinatal outcomes may impact tool applicability. This study evaluated the validity, reliability, and accessibility of multidomain developmental screening tools for young children, analyzed the applicability of tools across different contexts, and created a compendium of tools.

Strengthening Recruitment and Retention: Mitigation Strategies in Two Longitudinal Studies of Pregnant Women in Pakistan.

Purpose: Global health researchers have a responsibility to conduct ethical research in a manner that is culturally respectful and safe. The purpose of this work is to describe our experiences with recruitment and retention in Pakistan, a low-middle-income country.

Description: We draw on two studies with a combined sample of 2161 low-risk pregnant women who participated in a pilot (n = 300) and a larger (n = 1861) prospective study of psychological distress and preterm birth at one of four centers (Garden, Hyderabad, Kharadar, Karimabad) of the Aga Khan University Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan.

The paradoxical influence of the COVID-19 lockdown period on different types of preterm births in Alberta: a provincial study.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine if the COVID-19 pandemic impacted different types of preterm birth rates in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: A population-based, retrospective, cohort study was conducted from March 15, 2015 to December 31, 2020 using provincial data. The primary exposure was the COVID-19 lockdown period, and the primary outcome was the incidence of preterm birth (<37 weeks gestational age).

A concurrent mixed-method study exploring the experiences of interprofessional collaboration among Canadian midwives and obstetricians.

Aim: This study explores the experiences of interprofessional collaboration of Canadian midwives and obstetricians from midwives' perspective.

Design: A concurrent mixed-methods approach that combined a small validation study and qualitative thematic analysis was used to provide evidence of the nature and importance of collaboration between Registered Midwives (RMs) and obstetricians.

Method: Eighteen RMs across Canada completed a demographic survey and the Midwifery-Obstetrician Collaboration (MOC) scale in 2023.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants Born <29 Weeks with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia-Associated Pulmonary Hypertension: A Multicenter Study.

Objective: This study aimed to determine neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants born at <29 weeks' gestational age (GA) with bronchopulmonary dysplasia and pulmonary hypertension (BPD-PH) at 18 to 24 months' corrected age (CA).

Study Design: In this retrospective cohort study, preterm infants born at <29 weeks' GA between January 2016 and December 2019, admitted to level 3 neonatal intensive care units, who developed BPD and were evaluated at 18 to 24 months' CA in the neonatal follow-up clinics were included. We compared demographic characteristics and neurodevelopmental outcomes between the two groups: Group I: BPD with PH and Group II: BPD with no PH, using univariate and multivariate regression models.

Final-Year Nursing Students' Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review.

Background: The transitional experience from final-year nursing students (FYNS) to newly graduated RNs (NGRN) challenges individuals' professional and personal identities. Multiple studies have documented the experiences of FYNS graduating in the pandemic, but no studies have synthesized the findings.

Method: This scoping review examined the barriers and facilitators FYNS experience as they transitioned to become NGRN during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth: A systematic review.

Objective: Allostatic load refers to cumulative neuroendocrine burden and has been postulated to mediate and moderate physiological and psychological stress-related responses. This may have important implications for the risk of preterm birth. This systematic review examines the evidence on the association between prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth.

Psychometric analysis of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire in Pakistani pregnant women.

Background: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Scale (PRAQ) are frequently used perinatal mental health scales.

Objective: To identify the factor structure of the Urdu language versions of EPDS and PRAQ in 280 Pakistani pregnant women.

Method: The tools were administered at 12-19 weeks' and 22-29 weeks' gestational age (GA).

Parental perception of neonatal transfers from level 3 to level 2 neonatal intensive care units in Calgary, Alberta: qualitative findings.

Background: Retro-transfers from level 3 to 2 NICUs in Alberta's regionalization of neonatal care system are essential to ensure the proper utilization of level 3 NICUs for complex neonatal cases. Parents often experience distress that relates to the transfer of their neonates to another hospital. Limited information is available regarding parental perceptions of distress during transfers for neonates requiring care between NICUs in the current Canadian context.

Improving sterile processing practices in Cambodian healthcare facilities.

Background: Sterile processing practices in low-resource countries contribute to greater post-operative infection rates compared to high-resource countries. Provision of a sterile processing training program in Tanzania and Ethiopia demonstrated statistically significant improvements in sterile processing practice, a key requisite for safe surgical care.

Aim: To determine if a sterile processing program in a South East Asia country would result in improved conditions and practice in urban and rural healthcare facilities.

Advancing Excellence in Community Health Nursing Through Evidence-Based National Standards of Practice.

Background: Current standards of practice are necessary to ensure safe nursing practice in Canada and across the world. This article aimed to describe and present findings from the rigorous review process undertaken to update the 2011 Canadian Community Health Nursing Standards of Practice.

Method: A revision process included a scoping review of the literature, focus groups, and a modified Delphi method.

Perceived stress may mediate the relationship between antenatal depressive symptoms and preterm birth: A pilot observational cohort study.

Background: Screening for changes in pregnancy-related anxiety and depressive symptoms during pregnancy may further our understanding of the relationship between these two variables and preterm birth.

Objectives: To determine whether changes in pregnancy-related anxiety and depressive symptoms during pregnancy influence the risk of preterm birth among Pakistani women; explore whether perceived stress moderates or mediates this relationship, and examine the relationship between the various components of pregnancy-related anxiety and preterm birth.

Methods: A prospective cohort study design was used to recruit a diverse sample of 300 low-risk pregnant women from four centers of Aga Khan Hospital for Women and Children in Karachi, Pakistan.

Sterile processing in low- and middle-income countries: an integrative review.

Background: Worldwide disparities in surgical capacity are a significant contributor to health inequalities. Safe surgery and infection prevention and control depend on effective sterile processing (SP) of surgical instruments; however, little is known about SP in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where surgical site infection is a major cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Aim: To appraise and synthesise available evidence on SP in LMICs.

Parental perception of neonatal retro-transfers from level 3 to level 2 neonatal intensive care units.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine the overall parental satisfaction with retro-transfers from a level 3 to a level 2 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The secondary objectives were to explore factors that caused parental satisfaction associated with retro-transfer and investigate the factors that could be modified to improve the retro-transfer process.

Methods: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study.

mHealth and Perinatal Depression in Low-and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Women in low- and middle-income countries have high rates of perinatal depression. As smartphones become increasingly accessible around the world, there is an opportunity to explore innovative mHealth tools for the prevention, screening, and management of perinatal depression. We completed a scoping review of the literature pertaining to the use of mobile phone technologies for perinatal depression in low-and middle-income countries.

Comorbid Anxiety and Depression among Pregnant Pakistani Women: Higher Rates, Different Vulnerability Characteristics, and the Role of Perceived Stress.

Anxiety and depression commonly co-occur during pregnancy and may increase risk of poor birth outcomes including preterm birth and low birth weight. Our understanding of rates, patterns, and predictors of comorbid anxiety and depression is hindered given the dearth of literature, particularly in low- and middle-income (LMI) countries. The aim of this study is (1) to explore the prevalence and patterns of comorbid antenatal anxiety and depressive symptoms in the mild-to-severe and moderate-to-severe categories among women in a LMI country like Pakistan and (2) to understand the risk factors for comorbid anxiety and depressive symptoms.

Adverse Childhood Experiences and Changing Levels of Psychosocial Distress Scores Across Pregnancy in Kenyan Women.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have been associated with deleterious effects on mental health in pregnancy.

Methods: The ACE International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ) was used to measure neglect, abuse, and household dysfunction. Longitudinal mixed effect modelling was used to test the effect of ACEs on pregnancy-related anxiety, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress at two time points (12-19 and 22-29 weeks) during pregnancy.

Ethnic disparity and exposure to supplements rather than adverse childhood experiences linked to preterm birth in Pakistani women.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with prenatal mental health and negative pregnancy outcomes in high income countries, but whether the same association exists in Pakistan, a low- to middle-income (LMI) country, remains unclear.

Methods: Secondary data analyses of a prospective longitudinal cohort study examining biopsychosocial measures of 300 pregnant women at four sites in Karachi, Pakistan. A predictive multiple logistic regression model for preterm birth (PTB; i.

Experiences, mental well-being and community-based care needs of fathers of late preterm infants: A mixed-methods pilot study.

Aims: We explore fathers' experience of caring for a late preterm infant including their stressors, needs and corresponding interventions proffered by public health nurses.

Design: Pilot mixed-methods exploratory sequential design.

Methods: We collected (a) qualitative data from semi-structured interviews (5) and (b) quantitative data (31) about fathers' levels of stress (Parenting Stress Index), anxiety (Speilberger State-Trait Anxiety) and depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) at 6-8 weeks after birth of their infant.

The impact of a sterile processing program in Northwest Tanzania: a mixed-methods study.

Background: Inadequate training of health care workers responsible for the sterilization of surgical instruments in low- and middle-income countries compromises the safety of workers and patients alike.

Methods: A mixed methods research study was initiated in the Lake Zone areas of Northwestern Tanzania in the summer of 2018. The goal was to identify the impact of education and training on sterile processing practices at ten hospitals.